CBI to probe fake railway courts.

Mumbai Newsline:Tuesday 30 August 2011.

Mumbai Taking serious note of a scam involving the alleged staging of fake courts by Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel to extort money from commuters who cross railway tracks, the Bombay High Court on Monday transferred the investigation in the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The Division Bench of Justice Ranjana Desai and Justice Ranjit More ordered the transfer after the agency told the court that it is already investigating the role of RPF personnel in corruption cases. “Since the CBI is already investigating such cases against RPF officials, it would be the best agency to probe this matter,” Justice Desai said.

Earlier, the court had said it was considering transferring the case to the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID), observing that there is a possibility of a pattern existing throughout the state. However, in a hearing on August 26, the judges sought to know if the CBI is investigating any case related to the fake court scam.

The judges were hearing a public interest litigation filed by activist Samir Zaveri who accused RPF officials of extorting money and harassing commuters. The petitioner alleges the scam was being carried on at Lokmanya Tilak Terminus at Kurla in 2008. The petition was filed after RPF Head Constable B R Jogdankar filed an RTI pertaining to the matter. According to the petitioner, the modus operandi was that a head constable of the RPF would act as a “magistrate” and granted bail to the offenders, and the constables would misappropriate the money.

The case will now be heard on November 25.